Add fruits to your daily meals to stay healthier this winter

The sun outside is blinding I shield my eyes and look for the entry into Crawford Market Itrsquos a regular weekday and the market is bustling with life The moment Irsquom inside therersquos an assault of another kind which I welcomeThe markets overflow with seasonal fruits such as oranges strawberries pomegranates and more PicsDeepali DhingraBefore me are piles of bright red strawberries bunches of juicy black and green grapes rubyred piles of pomegranates not to forget a variety of other fruits such as chikoo oranges malta passion fruit guava melons and pears and Itrsquos as if Irsquove died and gone to fruit heaven Uttam Umaji Wagh a vendor who has been selling fruits at Crawford Market for nearly 40 years recognises the look on my face and proceeds to tell me about the benefits of consuming seasonal fruits ldquoThis is the best season to consume fruits because there is such a huge variety of them available at this timerdquo he says coaxing me into buying half a kilo of hanumanphal a bigger version of the humble sitaphalHigh on fruitsWagh is right when he speaks about the plethora of fruits One look at the display in front of me and Irsquom convinced Mumbai might not have a winter to boast of but when it comes to fruits there is enough to excite a fruitlover And itrsquos not just the wonderful variety that is exciting but also the fact that seasonal fruits are your best bet when it comes to health benefitsThanks to advancement in technologies and methods of food processing most fruits are available all through the year But studies conducted across the world suggest that fruits and vegetables picked in season are higher in nutrition value than those that have a longer shelf life which use abundant amount of chemicals and other methods of food preservation Says fitness professional Neeraj Mehta Director and Technical head of GFFI Fitness Academy Andheri ldquoFruits that have been imported lack in nutritional value as they have been preserved for a long time before they reach us On the other hand fruits which reach us within a few days of getting plucked have a higher content of vitamins and mineralsrdquo Mehta says they often suggest colour therapy to their clients which includes helpings of threefour fruits and threefour vegetables of different colours ldquoBut they have to be in seasonrdquo he addsCook freshSo whatrsquos the best way to incorporate fruits in your diet A big bowl of crunchy fruit salad is probably the first thing that comes to mind no doubt One can even prepare soups and desserts using fruits But when it comes to cooking with fruits as main course most people either donrsquot know how to do it or are too sceptical about striking the right balance of sweet and sourChef Joshua DrsquoSouza Silverspoon Gourmet Lower Parel says he often uses fruits such as pineapple strawberries passion fruit and guavas to come up with delicious recipes for main course ldquoFruits give an interesting flavour to food but when they are cooked they tend to become sweeter So one should pair them with chicken or fish using different varieties of vinegars peppers and chilliesrdquo he says While there is no limit to experimenting with fruit pairings DrsquoSouza suggests pairing vegetarian dishes with grapes chicken with pineapple or strawberries while passion fruit goes well with fishHomemaker Purabi Naha who runs the blog cosmopolitancurrymania com says her entire family loves to eat dishes with fruits in them ldquoItrsquos the best way to incorporate fruits in your diet especially if you have kids When you use fruits in desserts one often ends up using a lot of sugar but using them in the main course ensures that you get the goodness of the fruit without overloading yourself with the added caloriesrdquo she adds